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The Alexandra and Spencer Wells Charitable Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Alexandra and Spencer Wells Charitable Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$112k
Granted FY2025still arriving
11
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$51k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0190% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$289kEducation$106kHealth$95kPhilanthropy$51kHuman Services$7kFood & Nutrition$6kRecreation & Sports$3kEmployment$3kOther$0
02FY2025 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k7 grants · $11k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $51k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $51k
$1,893
Median grant
5
States reached
$216k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SAN FRANCISCO FILM SOCIETY$51,000
EVERY MOTHER COUNTS$30,526
BLACKBURN FOUNDATION$10,300
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY$10,000
SAN FRANCISCO OPERA$5,150
WESTERN RESERVE ACADEMY$1,893
MANIFESTWORKS$1,180
NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION$1,033
LOWCOUNTRY LAND TRUST$515
BRECKER-METAL FOUNDATION INC$500
Individual grant recipient$240
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY20–25, $4k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%MANIFESTWORKS: $1k → 14%EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE FOUNDATION: $1k → 11%MANIFESTWORKS: $540 → 14%PROJECT GLIMMER: $500 → 10%MANIFEST WORKS: $1k → 14%STREET SOCCER USA: $200 → 17%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

NY
MA
IA
IN
OH
CT
CA
UT
MD
DE
SC
DC
AL
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

80%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$417k · 13 repeat orgs$107k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +68% since the first grant, against +21% for those funded once.

13 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

13
41

Total granted

$417k
$96k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+68%
+21%

Still filing today

77%
61%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 89% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $11k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationArts & CultureHealthHuman ServicesPhilanthropyInternationalOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • SF
    San Francisco Film Society
    6× · 2020–2025 · $277k · revenue +40%
  • WR
    WESTERN RESERVE ACADEMY
    5× · 2020–2025 · $30k · revenue +56%
  • TQ
    THE QUAD PREPARATORY SCHOOL
    2× · 2021–2022 · $5k · revenue +68%

Funded once

  • WO
    WALK OF CHAMPIONS
    one grant, 2024 · $40k · revenue +12%
  • G
    GIVEBUTTER
    one grant, 2024 · $10k
  • TB
    THE BRANSON SCHOOLgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $10k · revenue +41%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
2
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
3
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
4
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
5
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
6
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
7
The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel

Enhance the ability of actec members to provide the most efficient and highest quality services to their clients; develop qualified trust and estate counselors; improve and reform probate, trust and tax laws, procedures, and standards of…

Community Improvement
8
The George Washington University

The mission of the george washington university (gw) is to educate individuals in liberal arts, languages, sciences, learned professions, and other courses and subjects of study, and to conduct scholarly research and publish the findings…

Education
9
Manhattanville University

To educate students to be ethical and socially responsible leaders in a global community.

Education
10
United States Telecom Association

See schedule oustelecom exists to ensure members can compete, grow and thrive to build a world where families, enterprises and communities are connected through the power of broadband.our member companies have committed a considerable…

—
11
Columbia College Chicago

The organization's mission is to educate students for creative occupations in diverse fields of arts and media.

Education
12
Augustana College

Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Taft School Corporation; the most unlike its peers is Brecker-Metal Foundation Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

38 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 38 of the 57 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
38/38
Grantees still filing
30/38
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

San Francisco Film Society: $276,807 · OtherSan Francisco Film Society+28 more: $41,297 · Other+28 moreTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $50,000 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF COLU…WESTERN RESERVE ACADEMY: $29,821 · EducationWESTERN RESERVE ACAD…THE BRANSON SCHOOL: $10,000 · EducationTHE BRANSON SCHOOLTHE QUAD PREPARATORY SCHOOL: $5,083 · Education+5 more: $7,890 · Education+5 moreEVERY MOTHER COUNTS: $82,102 · HealthEVERY MOTHER COUNT…Blackburn Foundation: $10,300 · HealthBlackburn Foundati…+3 more: $1,607 · HealthWALK OF CHAMPIONS: $40,000 · Philanthropy+2 more: $1,515 · PhilanthropySAN FRANCISCO OPERA ASSOCIATION: $5,650 · Arts & CultureNANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION: $2,690 · Arts & CultureSAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $1,175 · Arts & CultureTHE SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI: $1,030 · Arts & CultureSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $1,000 · Arts & CultureREUT USA: $500 · Arts & CultureMANIFESTWORKS: $2,750 · Human ServicesEMERGENCY ASSISTANCE FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 · Human ServicesPROJECT GLIMMER: $500 · Human ServicesSTREET SOCCER USA INC: $200 · Human ServicesFeeding America: $1,000 · Food & Nutrition
Other$318,104Education$102,794Health$94,009Philanthropy$41,515Arts & Culture$12,045Human Services$4,450Food & Nutrition$1,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetSan Francisco Film Society: $276,807 over 6y, 1.3% of budgetEVERY MOTHER COUNTS: $82,102 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $50,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetWESTERN RESERVE ACADEMY: $29,821 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTHE BRANSON SCHOOL: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO OPERA ASSOCIATION: $5,650 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE QUAD PREPARATORY SCHOOL: $5,083 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TAFT SCHOOL CORPORATION: $3,390 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMANIFESTWORKS: $2,750 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetNANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION: $2,690 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF THE SMITH COLLEGE: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Edible Schoolyard Project dba The Alice Waters Institute: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $1,175 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPSI UPSILON FRATERNITY: $1,060 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI: $1,030 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFeeding America: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEMERGENCY ASSISTANCE FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBrecker-Metal Foundation INC: $1,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCROHN'S & COLITIS FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO FIRST TEE: $515 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLOWCOUNTRY LAND TRUST INC: $515 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetREUT USA: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT GLIMMER: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWESLEYAN UNIVERSITY: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAccess Institute for Psychological Services: $350 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRock Creek Conservancy Inc: $258 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHUNTSMAN CANCER FOUNDATION: $257 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH FAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICE INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE JONSSON CANCER CENTER FOUNDATION: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBUILDON INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSTREET SOCCER USA INC: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetENNEAGRAM PRISON PROJECT: $105 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNational Volunteer Fire Council Inc: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Jewish Community Fede…The Goldman Sachs Cha…The San Francisco Fou…Gs Donor Advised Phil…Morgan Stanley Global…National Philanthropi…Tides FoundationAmerican Endowment Fo…The Chicago Community…Vanguard Charitable E…Charities Aid Foundat…The Blackbaud Giving …
Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco the Peninsula Marin & SonomaCA14.7× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco the Peninsula Marin & Sonoma · The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund · The San Francisco Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Tides Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Charities Aid Foundation America · The Blackbaud Giving Fund

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization The Alexandra and Spencer Wells Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Alexandra and Spencer Wells Charitable Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Rock Creek Conservancy Inc: 60% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston College: 3% of income from government
  • The Trustees of the Smith College: 1% of income from government
  • Jewish Family & Children's Service Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Wesleyan University: 1% of income from government
  • Nantucket Historical Association: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 57 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Alexandra and Spencer Wells’ filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home